Scottish users see services stagnate

The public sector in Scotland is failing to
spend enough on home care services to achieve the level of support
people need to remain in their own homes, according to the latest
report by Audit Scotland.

The report, Homing In On Care,
describes the increasing importance of providing wide range of home
care services, designed to meet all needs and delivered when those
needs are required to be met.

The report states that spending on home care
has only increased from £110m to £122m over the past
three years and is failing to respond to an increase in service
users who are presenting a wider range of needs.

Barbara Hurst, director of performance audit
for Audit Scotland, said: “The Scottish executive is providing
councils with extra resources for better targeted and flexible home
care services. But councils must get best value in these services
through fully involving older people and their carers.”

Among the other main conclusions of the
report, Audit Scotland points out that spending on home care has
decreased in a third of local authorities in Scotland between 1997
and 2000. In addition the number of home care hours fell by 2 per
cent between 1998 and 2000 and the number of people receiving a
service has decreased by almost 13 per cent between 1998 and
2000.

Furthermore, almost three-quarters of home
care is still provided between the hours of 7am and 2pm rather than
the 24-hour a day provision that is necessary to meet a range of
personal needs.

– Homing In On Care is available at
website www.audit-scotland.gov.uk